Friday, January 07, 2000Life improving for injured Bengal
DB who broke vertebra hopes to play in '01
BY GEOFF HOBSON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The doctor told Bengals safety Kelvin Moore Thursday that if he were his son or brother, he wouldn't let him play football again.
Kelvin Moore
Not after Moore broke his neck five months ago. Not after Moore could have died on the Silverdome field in an exhibition game between Cincinnati and Detroit that was anything but meaningless.
At the moment, Moore, who suffered a broken vertebra in the Aug. 20 collision with Lions receiver Brian Stablein, just wants to lie on his back again. And bathe himself again. He can't get enough of the sun on his face.
“I didn't see the sun for six weeks,” Moore said. “My therapist took me outside, and that had to be the best feeling in the world. Just feeling the sun warm on my body.”
The sun still shines on Moore because he can simply walk and talk. He returned to Cincinnati on Thursday for his club end-of-season physical. While Moore, 24, failed the physical, his everyday life is improving. Ever since late October, when he temporarily lost feeling in his hands and arms again.
The feeling came back, and Moore's “halo,” a helmet-like contraption stabilizing his neck, has been off since Dec. 10. Now he can pull a T-shirt over his head, though it takes time. He no longer has to spend 80 percent of his days in bed.
The trip from Los Angeles to meet Bengals doctors is the first time Moore has been alone since the injury, and he was a little nervous. But teammate Myron Bell, who stayed with Moore that night in Michigan after the rest of the Bengals went home, planned to take him to dinner. “That's what I miss,” Moore said. “Being around the guys and football. The doctors say it's 50-50 I could play again. Until they say 100 percent no, I want to try. I'll take 2000 off and train like I'm getting ready, and in a year and a half, who knows?”
Doctors know the break is healing naturally. There has been no fusion, no surgery needed. Moore is on his second of four neck braces.
“There's a slight chance,” Moore said. “If they tell me I can go out and hit like I did, I wouldn't be afraid. I'm not scared.”
Agent Angelo Wright calls Moore a workout warrior, and he already is planning his next career. While rehabbing, he'll attend some coaching clinics.
The Bengals coaches were high on the 6-foot, 203-pounder, a free agent out of Morgan State. The prevailing opinion is Moore would have replaced Bell by midseason at strong safety.
Moore's injury happened with 10 minutes left in the third quarter. He had been watching so much film, he knew the play before it happened.
Lions quarterback Gus Frerotte kept looking him off, so Moore knew he was coming near the middle and rushed up to make the big play.
But Moore's foot caught in the turf. He thought he blew out his knee. As he stumbled, he threw up his arm to get out of the way, but Stablein's leg found the side of Moore's helmet. “I was awake the whole time,” Moore said. “I remember the first thing I said. I asked if I could play again. (Trainer) Paul (Sparling) gave me kind of a look and said something like, "First things first.' I knew it was bad.” Things are better now.
“Whatever happens, I want to stay around the game,” Moore said. “If I coach, I know I'll have to start at the bottom, and that's OK.”
Moore knows he has survived the bottom already.
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